Instinct
by Xekstrin
Summary: Sometimes, Regal needs to remember how to act on instinct. Response to a challenge by Lilikoifish. Regal and Sheena pairing.
1. Instinct

A/N:_ FOURTEEN YEAR AGE DIFFERENCE_. That's all I really wanted to say. But hey, its a challenge...

_Tok tok tok tok tok._

Regal blinked, looking up at his office door. The blue haired president of the Lezareno company seemed to be in a daze for a few moments, unused to this new experiance. Nobody ever knocked. Presea often came in unnanounced, to dump more papers on his desk or to chat over some coffee she had brewed. He had offered her a plush job working for him, now that Ozette was gone. She could have gone back to being a lumberjack, but how could he accept that? Especially because he had grown so much closer to her over the journey they had, especially because she was Alicia's sister.

And it was late at night. Presea had gone home- in fact, everyone had gone home. He was the only person left in the building except for janitors, and they didn't clean his room until after he left. Who could it be?

I'm getting rusty, he thought. In battle if something new came along I assesed it and then modified my fighting style to accomodate it. I didn't have time to think. It was instinct. He cleared his throat, straightening his tie. Whoever it was, he'd have to make a good impression. You didn't be the president of the Lezereno Company for long if a late-night visitor caught you staring at the door like a confused cow.

_Tok tok tok tok... tok?_ He could hear the hesitation this time.

"Come in," he said, rapping his fingers on his desk as the door slowly creaked open.

He blinked in surprise at the guest, sitting back in his chair. Although he wore business suits and slicked his hair back, and freed his hands from their shackles, Sheena Fujibayashi looked much the same as he had last seen her three years ago. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she waslooking way too shy for someone who walked about with a nonexistant neckline with ease.

"Sheena," he said, warmly. He stood up and walked to her, putting a massive hand on her petite shoulder. "It has been far too long."

"Yeah, you're telling me!" Sheena was far more exhuberent in her greeting than he had been. She leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hanging off of him so the height difference wasn't so great. "How're ya doing? I've been busy learning how to be a proper cheif, but now I'm back! Sorry, am I wrinkling your suit?" She grew concerned, making him want to chuckle. Three years, and she thinks he cared about a suit?

"Wrinkle all you wish," Regal said. Despite that, she let go of him and he could see that she had dropped a parcel on the floor outside the room. Curious as to what it was but not wishing to pry, he instead said: "Have you been to see everyone else?"

"Are you kidding? Lloyd and Colette drop by sporadically, and Raine and Genis every three months. Exactly every three months- they keep track. I see the Idiot Chosen almost every week." Though she said his title with scorn, Regal could see her lips curling up in a slight smile as she mentioned Zelos. "The only ones left.." she skip-hopped backwards, scooping up the parcel on the floor and hiding it behind her back with a smile, "Are you and Presea!"

"I apologize," Regal said. "Running a company is a full-time job. I would have visited..."

Sheena would hear none of it. "Nah nah nah. It's just as much my fault as it is yours! So here..." she held out the parcel to him with both hands. She seemed to lose a little bit of her bubble, her cheeks turning red. "I got you a present! Heh... I hope you like it."

Regal took the present, accidentally catching one of her hands in his for a brief moment. Ignoring the unwelcome shiver that went up his spine, he took the present and stepped back a safe distance. Sheena's face was still red.

He opened the present. "A cat..?" he asked, holding up a small porcelain cat.

"A Mizuho waving cat!" Sheena corrected, getting over her shyness and pointing out that the cat had it's right paw raised as if in greeting. "_Maneki-neko_.This one brings you good fortune and riches. I figured it was fitting since you're the president of a big-shot company. Here-" she snatched it out of his hands and deposited it on his desk. The desk was bare of ornaments, save for a photo of the entire group in Flanoir. "Isn't it cute?"

"It's very generous of you," Regal said. He remembered times when they had been cooking around a campfire, when she had gotten over her initial shyness with him and told him about Mizuho. Even though three years had passed, it seemed as though it was just the same as it had been. "Do you have another one for Presea?"

"What?" Sheena blinked, and then blushed. "Oh, y-yeaaah! Of course. It's just, the gift shop ran out of bags and I just didn't want to, you know, just hand it to her. It would be weird if I didn't wrap it or anything. I'll get her one tomorrow."

Regal furrowed his brows in confusion but otherwise made no remark. He could tell Sheena was lying, but for what reason he had no idea. "So," he said, "Have you come here alone?"

"Hmm? Yeah, pretty much." Sheena shrugged carelessly. "It's just been bugging me, since I hadn't seen you in a while and I really wanted to." She paused. "I mean, you guys are my friends, and I had no idea if you'd just forgotten about me, or thought I had forgotten about you guys." She repeated herself, trying to make it obviously clear that she was using the word 'you' as a collective term and not meant solely for Regal. She looked around the presidentail office. "Hmm. Well this place hasn't changed much."

Regal tilted his head, confused again. Speaking of not changing, here she was again. Sheena reminded him of Colette in that she always felt the need to defend herself, or apologize, or to clarify what she meant. It made for awkward conversations sometimes. "I prefer not to waste money on redecorating. It's just a room."

"Office or not, it's still y- y- your own personal room." Sheena stifled a yawn, appearing much like a sleepy kitten herself. "Make it a little brighter so it's a pleasure to come to work."

"And speaking of rooms," Regal said, "You should be getting to yours. Here's my pass- ask them for the presidential suite. Free of charge."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sheena held her hands up and backed away. "Sorry, but I just can't accept that. I'm here to visit, not to mooch off of you guys."

Regal, seemingly unnaffected, was quick was his reply. "Then you can stay with Presea and I for the night."

"You two _live _together?"

"Well... yes. She is still legally only a child, she needs a legal guardian."

"Right, of course, of course."

"...Obviously, I am not having any relations with her, if that is what you fear."

"_What_!" Sheena turned bright scarlet. "W-why would I fear that? Jeesh, Regal! You can do whatever you want and I'd totally be cool with it." She stopped, crossing her arms and tapping her foot for a few moments, her eyes closed in deep thought. "OK. I'll stay with you guys... but only for a night! This is still mooching in my opinion."

* * *

A/N: Yeah. I'm lazy and can't think of a proper chapter ending. (:dies:)HERE'S YER SHEENA REGAL FICTION! I'll update sporadically. Note that this fiction does not take priority over my Sheenawa (SheenaXKuchinawa) fiction, and even less than my Shraine (Sheena X Raine) fiction. Eeek! 


	2. Better

A/N: I know there's really no door to the outside in his office. I know you use the elemental express or whatever. But let me pose a question- do you want Regal/Sheena FLUFF, or not?

* * *

"Ah…." Regal held his hand outside the door to his offices, palm upwards. Fat drops of rain splashed onto it, making the humid Altamira air even more unpleasant. "It's always raining here…" he muttered. "In the mornings, at night… I don't really understand why they call it the Seaside Paradise when half the time the sea is covered in dark storm clouds."

"Hey, it's a tropical island. Not much you can do." Sheena crossed her arms. "Where do you live again?"

"The entire top floor of the hotel," he said, distantly, as he reached to grab an umbrella from its place by the doorway. Unfolding it, he offered his arm to Sheena. "Sorry, this umbrella was really only meant for one person, so you'll have to stay close if you don't want to get wet."

"You live on the roof?" Sheena asked, her eyes wide.

Regal glanced away, putting a hand to his mouth to cover his smile. "N-no… If you put it that way I live on the second to top floor," he said, once his emotions were under lock again. "But the roof does have a pool that's off-limits to guests."

"Ooooh…." Sheena flushed. "Of course. It would be stupid if you lived on the roof. I mean… er…"

Regal rescued her from herself. "Why don't we get going? Here," he held out his arm again. "Stay close."

"Uhh…" Sheena considered telling him the truth- that she didn't mind getting wet- but then her selfish side won and she linked her arm with his, trying to hide an embarrassed-yet-pleased smile. They didn't talk on the way to the hotel, hurrying across the cobble stoned way as the rain poured down harder. When they finally reached the mechanical doors and stepped inside the warm, dry lobby, Sheena threw her fist in the air.

"We made it!" she said.

Regal opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by a loud, drunken couple shoving their way past him. The woman was clinging onto his arm, tears of laughter falling down her face to mix with the rain drops as they stumbled and giggled their way to the elevators, the sound of their merrymaking cut short as the elevator doors closed.

Regal sighed loudly, rubbing at his temple. "To think my fortune is based on people like that squandering their money here."

"Heh…" Sheena could only sweat-drop as he shook the water from his umbrella. "So do you think Presea is asleep yet?"

"Presea generally goes to bed at whatever time she pleases," Regal said. "She's responsible for getting up early, though. Come on." He motioned for her to follow as he stepped into the elevator and swiped his card, pressing the floor level. He was relaxed and chatty during the elevator ride, but when the doors opened to his suite he instantly tensed, his eyes training on an object lying near the doors. Mouth set in an angry line, he strode over and picked them up, brandishing them for Sheena to see: A muddy pair of boy's sneakers.

"Uh?"

"David!" Regal said as an answer. Angrily, he stormed through the suite until he came across Presea, reclining on the couch with a pair of headphones on as she leisurely flipped the page of the novel she was reading. Her purple socked foot bounced to the beat of the music she was listening to, something young and loud by the looks of it.

"Hey Regal," the teenager said without looking up. Regal bent down and unplugged her headphones. "Heeeyyy!" she whined, putting her thick novel down as she scrambled to her knees, making a face at Regal from the couch. "What do you want, a kiss hello? Here!" she leapt from the couch, forcing him to catch her or let her fall.

"Mmmmmmwah!" she said, giving him a fat, wet kiss on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her legs dangle in the air. "Greetings, o surrogate father of mine! What do you require of me so that I may get mine listening devices back?" She reached up to pinch his ear. "Nothing? Good. So cough 'em over before I start to get nasty."

She froze as Sheena entered the room. There was a few seconds of pause before she vaulted from Regal's arms to tackle Sheena to the ground, hugging her tightly about the waist. "Sheena!" she said. "Sheena, I- I missed you! Wow!" Sitting up, she scooted off of the ninja, grinning widely. "You've got to tell me all about- eek!"

Regal grabbed the back of her shirt, hoisting her up until she was eye level with him. "Nice try," he said, "But a distraction won't give him enough time to sneak away. Where is he?"

"Who?" Presea asked, frowning. Regal held up the pair of sneakers. Presea frowned at them, her cool blue eyes expressionless. She shrugged. "Are you wearing sneakers now, _dad_? Eek!" she squeaked again as he let her go, going about the suit and opening up every closet he could find.

"You know exactly who I am talking about!" Regal said, moving to the entertainment room. Presea followed him, leaving Sheena feeling alone and forgotten.

"C'mon Regal, stop!" Presea said, following him around the kitchen. Relentlessly, he stalked about the suite with a feverish energy. "You're being- oh."

Regal opened the spice cupboard door to reveal a lanky teenaged boy squished inside. David saluted him cheerily as best as he could with his knee pressed up against his forehead.

"Hey Regal," he said.

"Mr. Bryant will do just fine," Regal told him. Regal stooped down and pried him loose, holding him up like a dejected puppy before Presea's foggy blue eyes.

"Hey David," she said, a bemused smile on her face. "I wonder how you got there?"

David shrugged, helplessly. "I really don't know myself, Presea."

"Very funny," Regal said, toting David out of the kitchen and depositing him at the elevator doors. He pointed to them. "Out," he said.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Bryant sir." David hopped around on one foot as he put his sneakers back on, knocking an expensive vase over. Regal quickly caught it with one hand, his eyes still trained on David. "'Bye now," David said, stepping into the elevator. Regal put out one hand to halt the doors.

"And the key card that gives you access here…" Regal said.

"Oh. Right. That." David fished in his pockets until he found the small plastic red card. He handed it over to Regal. "Good night, Regal!"

"_Mr. Bryant_!" he snapped.

"Good night, Mr. Bryant sir Mr. President sir bossman!" David craned his neck to see over Regal's imposingly broad shoulders. "See you tomorrow, Presea!"

Regal visibly tensed and Presea clapped a hand to her forehead, groaning.

David paused. "I never want to see you again in my life, Presea! We're through!"

"Better," she said, smiling thinly.

The elevator doors closed.


	3. And They Danced

"Presea's so... different."

It was the next night. Presea was already in bed, exhausted after having to go to work at the resort after her home schooling was done- and all after having stayed up all night talking with Sheena and Regal, laughing and quickly establishing herself as someone different than the Presea Sheena once knew while still retaining some of her old quirks. She was immensely pleased with the _maneki-neko _Sheena had brought her and set out at once to carve a matching set out of wood.

Regal loosened his tie with one hand, reclining against the broad window that overlooked the bay. "She's simply more awake now. The last of the memory-dampening effects of her Ex-Sphere have finally all been washed away by time, and by love." He pulled the tie free, held it out into the moonlight and contemplated the scars on his wrist. "She might be only a few years younger than me, but her experiences of this world are as limited as a fifteen year old girl's."

"So she really is your daughter," Sheena said, wonder in her voice. "I… I'm not sure why, but I just suddenly want to say how happy I am for you, Regal."

He looked up from his scars to her, eyebrows shooting up. "Whatever for?"

"For having a family again," she said. "It's a wonderful thing to have."

_And a horrible thing to lose._

Regal and Sheena both wondered if it was prudent to say that last one out loud, since they both knew how very true it was.

**OoOoOo**

"We need to get those two together," David said to Presea, sitting on her window ledge. How he had managed to get all the way up to the top suite without anyone noticing was perhaps a story for another day.

"Huh?" Presea said, looking up from her cat carving. There was a pile of wood shavings all around her feet, and she sneezed a few times from the dust before continuing. "Sheena and Regal?"

David grinned. "Yeah! I mean, did you see how she was looking at him?

It took Presea a while to respond because another sneezing bout had hit her. "Wit- wha- how?"

"She wants him. She wants his sexy man meat."

"_David_!" Presea said, scandalized. "This is my father we're talking about! My father does not _have _'sexy man meat'. And besides, Sheena has been our friend for a long time. I think she would have made a move by now." She paused. "Wait… you're right, Sheena's too shy for that."

_And Regal is pretty lonely… _she thought to herself. Who better than one of their old traveling mates? Who else would understand them? Understand Presea?

Presea set down the unfinished cat carving, a strange light entering her eyes. "I think I have an idea…"

**OoOoOo**

"Presea, wake up. We're going to the beach."

Presea groaned as her father shook her shoulder lightly, opening the window to let some fresh air in. "Oh God, Regal, I was up all night again doing that thing," she said, pointing to the cat sculptures. "Let me sleep?"

There was a long silence from his end until finally he said, "All right, Presea. But I hope you can at least try to join us later for dinner."

_Dinner, huh? That gives me another idea! _But Presea really was tired so she only had enough energy for one pleased smile before she collapsed into slumber. David, however, was not as tired and was able to spy on the would-be couple as they headed towards the elevator. Sheena was wearing a navy blue sundress over her bathing suit and a big floppy straw hat. Regal was already in the elevator when the doors started to close, even though his foot was in the way and the motion-sensors on the doors should have stopped when they sensed that. Sheena broke out into a sprint, holding onto her hat with one hand and her beach bag with the other.

Regal pinned open the malfunctioning doors, his mind a total blank except how much of an inconvenience this was. Reaching out, he yanked Sheena by one arm and pulled her in, the end of her floppy hat just barely getting pinned by the doors.

"Ow ow ow!" Sheena tripped over his feet, stumbling into him. "What a wonky door! You need to get that looked into, Regal."

"Sorry…"

Then, with a crunching of gears and a flickering of the lights, the elevator stopped dead in its tracks.

**OoOoOo**

And when stuck in such close proximity, they realize their true feelings and start to make out!

Or at least that was the plan. David was there on the bottom floor (having used the stairs) twp hours later when the elevators started working again. But when he waited at the door, instead of seeing the two in a compromising position he found them sitting on the floor in identical poses, hands on their laps and legs crossed. They were meditating- after all, both were accomplished martial artists, and were used to having their bodies ignore certain things like the stifling heat in the elevator (the air conditioning shut down) and the fact that Sheena drank too much orange juice this morning and had to go pee.

Once _that_ was taken care of, they decided to go to the beach anyway.

Mission failed.

**OoOoOo**

David, wearing a conspicuously large pair of sunglasses and a trench coat for added effect, was spying on the two as they enjoyed their day at the beach. Regal actually had been taking surfing lessons since he was old enough- after all he grew up on the resort- and after renting one he was going to try and teach Sheena how. But before that…

"You have very fair skin, Sheena," Regal said. "It would be wise to put on sun block now."

"That's the problem," Sheena complained. "I'm _too_ pale. I want to get tanned."

"The only thing you'll get is burned. Trust me Sheena, I live here."

Sheena groaned. "Aww… Well could you at least help me do my back?"

Aha! David tensed in excitement. No man could resist the allure of so much skin exposed under their hands! She was practically throwing herself at him!

"Certainly." Regal slathered his hands with a goop of the white stuff and applied it to her back. No-nonsense. He didn't even try to fondle her or anything. This was really starting to get boring to David. "Don't forget your ears and the back of your neck. Those are the worst."

Just about as flirtatious as he got was when he cracked a rare smile at her when she turned around, rubbing the excess lotion off of his thumb onto her nose. If it had been David there with such a hot babe, he would have been like, "Want me to do the front now?" but Regal said no such thing and they just paddled off into the water like boring adults. Where was the sexual tension? The drama? Why didn't he take advantage of the fact that a beautiful young woman was staring at him with stars in her eyes? When she was so damn _cute_?

"He's a eunuch," David mumbled to himself, sweating profusely under his trench coat. "That's it. No other explanation." He then promptly had a heat stroke and collapsed. Some concerned passer-bys called the ambulance. Four hours later he was fine, if a little dizzy, with a warning from the nurse to take it easy and drink lots of water.

**OoOoOo**

"Wasn't David going to be joining us?" Regal asked Presea from deep within his wine glass. Sheena, Presea, and him were in the lobby enjoying dinner with all the guests. There was live music that night, and some brave couples could even be seen dancing.

"I think he wasn't feeling too well," Presea said, picking at her food morosely. "Anyway, what's the game plan for tomorrow?"

"Game plan?" Sheena asked.

"You know. What're we gonna do?"

"We could always stay in," Regal suggested. "After today's fiasco I'm scared to use the elevator again. I could cook for us. It'll be nice."

"No way!" Presea said. "Sheena needs to be entertained. We should go out."

"Where, though?"

"To the woods outside the resort," Presea said, beaming and clapping her hands together once, decisively. "We'll have a picnic. And Regal will cook for us anyway."

"Then we can have a free-for-all!"

All three of them looked up as David appeared in full evening wear, pulling himself a chair next to Presea. "A sparring match between the four of us, whaddaya say? And by the four of us I mean myself and these two ladies, while Regal… um… doesn't fight. At all. Or at least avoids me."

Regal smiled thinly. "Not feeling up to it, David?"

Sheena, however, was curious. She blinked at David, at his scrawny frame. "You're a martial artist?"

"David's family has been sending their eldest to the Bryants for training for generations now," Presea explained. "That's how I met David." In a whisper, she added to Sheena, "It's the only time you see Regal fighting without his handcuffs on. It's really quite frightening."

"I really don't think Sheena wants to-" Regal started, but Sheena cut him off with a, "Sounds like fun!"

Not waiting for Regal to respond, Presea jumped up and grabbed David by the arm. "Excellent! Tomorrow we spar!" and then dragged her beau off to go dancing with the other couples.

"The elevator trick didn't work," David confided in her.

"Oh, I knew it wouldn't," Presea said, whirling around in his arms. "I only did that as revenge for kicking you out the other night."

"Oh. Well, what should we do now to try and push em together?"

"Absolutely nothing."

She nodded over to the adults. Regal was standing, offering his arm to Sheena, and after a moment's hesitation she took it. They started dancing.

"Regal smiles more when she's around," Presea said. "I think I could get used to having her here."

Regal was, in fact, smiling as he spoke to Sheena. "You're a surprisingly good dancer." Realizing what he said, he began again. "That is, I hadn't thought you were a _bad _dancer…"

"Don't think so much, then," Sheena suggested, one hand resting on his upper arm. Under the smooth fabric of the suit, she could feel the solid strength of his body, so much larger than hers. "In my experience, you just let yourself down by hyping yourself up too much."

"But if I don't think…" he twirled her around. "I might do something I'll regret."

"Yeah? Like what?"

A pregnant silence.

"…I don't know," he admitted at last, when the song had ended. "But I'm afraid of making mistakes."


End file.
